Condensation Crown

[Verse 1]
The Motorola buzzes on the Gideon Bible, it's Dr. Bell.
My finger traces the water ring from my glass, I know the spell.
A perfect O, a halo of sweat on the cheap wood grain.
A little moat my body built to hold back the coming pain.

[Pre-Chorus]
And you say, just breathe, it’s only a sound
You can let this whole damn temporary world spin out

[Chorus]
But this is my condensation crown
The one last rite before the signal drowns
My own slow science, holding the panic down
'Til I can find the breath to make a sound.

[Verse 2]
Last November, you held the Tylenol PM in your palm.
You were searching for a systolic calm.
Her hand went slack on the percale sheet, a final, quiet lapse.
Now every ring feels like the tremor right before the maps collapse.

[Pre-Chorus]
And you say, look at me, you're not her, you're not there
There’s still Tacoma oxygen left in this air

[Chorus]
This is my condensation crown
The one last rite before the signal drowns
My own slow science, holding the panic down
'Til I can find the breath to make a sound.

[Bridge]
You take my wrist. "The sky is that bruised-plum color again."
A banjo plinks a quiet chord, a single drop of rain.

[Outro]
The buzzing stops.
The circle’s dry.